Fastener for carriage-curtains, &amp;c.



PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

I. S. CARR. PASTENER FOR CARRIAGE CURTAINS, 8:0.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-14, 1905.

Z gbtn 6550:;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FASTENER FOR CARRIAGE-CURTAINS, 81.0.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed January 14, 1905. Serial No. 240,997-

fo ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED S. CARR, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Carriage-Curtains, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fastening devices comprising a socket member having graspingjaws of a yielding character and a stud member adapted to 'be inserted in the socket member and engaged with the jaws, said members being provided with means for attachment to the two parts to be separably connected by the fastener.

The invention has for its chief object to provide afastening device of this character adapted to secure the curtains or flexible side pieces of the tops of vehicles, including top-buggies, express-wagons, automobiles, &c., the particular object being to enable the curtain or side piece to be positively locked against outward pressure from within the space covered by the curtain or side piece, so that the curtain or side piece cannot be detached by pressure liable to be exerted against its inner side.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents aside elevation of the stud member of my improved fastening device. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 represents a top plan view. Fig. 4 represents a front view of the socket member. Fig. 5 represents a back view of the same, but showing a slight change in the form of the spring. Fig. 6 represents a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 4 and showing a portion of a curtain. Fig. 7 represents a perspective view showing fragments of the parts of the socket member detached. Fig. 8 represents a perspective view of the stud member. Figs. 9 and 10 represent perspective views of the stud member without its base and showing different stages of the operation of disengaging the jaws from the stud member. Fig. 11 represents a section on line 11 11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 represents a perspective View of a modification. Fig. 13 represents a perspective view of another modification.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 12 12 represent the jaws of the socket member of my improved fastening device, said jaws being preferably the end portions of a Wire member which is bent, substantially as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, to form the said jaws, and a marginal portion connecting the jaws, each jaw being free at one end. The jaws are contained in a casing composed, in this embodiment of my invention, of a front plate 13, having an orifice 14 for the reception of the stud member hereinafter described, and a marginal flange 15, which extends backwardly from the plane of the front piece and bears upon the curtain or side piece l6,to which the socket member is attached. For the sake of convenience I will hereinafter refer to the said curtain or side piece as the holder for the socket member. The wire member having the jaws 12 12 is pressed against the inner side of the front piece 13, and its marginal portion is clamped against said front piece by a retaining-plate 17, having bosses or projections 18 adapted to bear on the marginal portion of the wire member and clamp said marginal portion firmly against the front plate 13, leaving the jaws 12 free to move toward and from each other. The retaining plate 17 bears against the outer surface of the holder 16 and is secured in place by the said holder. The means here shown for securing the socket member to the holder comprise cars 19, formed on the flange 15, said ears passing through the holder 16, and aback plate 20, having slots 21 or other suitable openings, which receive the ears 19. The back plate is placed against the rear side of the holder 16, and the ears 19 are bent over the outer surface of the back plate, as indicated in Fig. 6. The retaining-plate 17 and back plate 20 are provided with orifices coinciding with the orifice 14 in the front plate, said orifices being formed to receive the stud member, so that the latter may extend entirely through the socket member when the members are connected.

22 represents the stud member, which, as here shown, is provided with a base 23, adapted to be attached by screws or otherwise to upright portions of the frame of a carriagetop, the stud member when in place projecting outwardly from the interior of the carriage. The form of the outer portion of the stud member is such that it is adapted to be inserted between the jaws 12 12 and to displace said jaws outwardly while passing between them, the sides of the stud member at the outer portion thereof being preferably inclined longitudinally, as shown at 24 24, Fig. 3, to permit the described action on the jaws. The sides of the jaws are provided with faces ITO ' on the curtain or side piece 16.

25 25, which are formed to positively engage the jaws 12 and prevent movement of said jaws and of the socket member in the outward direction indicated by the arrows a: a: in Figs. 1 and 8, this being the direction in which pressure from within the vehicle would be exerted The jaw-engagil'ig faces 25 are preferably the outer sides of grooves formed in the sides of the stud member, the inner sides 26 of said grooves being diagonally disposed, so that they are adapted to serve, as hereinafter described, as jaw-displacing faces. The sides of the stud member are oppositely inclined, as shown at 27 27, Figs. 2 and 11, the said sides being so formed that the stud member is substantially wedge-shaped in cross-sectionr This statement does not apply, however, to the portion of the stud member between the faces 25 25, said portion having substantially parallel sides 28 28, Fig- 11, against which the jaws 12 12 bear when the members are interlocked.

In connecting the two members the socket member is applied to the stud member, the back plate 20 of the socket member facing the base 23 of the stud member. When the stud member has entered the socket member to a sufiicient extent, the jaws 12 spring inwardly into engagement with the faces 25, the said faces bearing against the jaws along their entirelength, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 8. It will be seen that when the parts are thus interlocked the faces 25 form abutments which lock the jaws 12 against pressure in the direction indicated by the arrows w w, the said faces 25 preventing the jaws from either moving outwardly from the base of the stud member or from spreading to disengage them from the faces 25. In case, however, the jaws 12 are tipped or inclined out of parallelism with the faces 25 by a movement in the direction of the arrow y, Figs. 9 and 10, the inclined sides 27 and. the jaw-displacing faces 26 cooperate in separating or forcing outwardly the jaws until they are disengaged from the faces 25,. as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10,and are therefore free to slip off from the outer portion of the stud member. This movement of the jaws may be conveniently effected by grasping the lower edge of the side piece or curtain 16 and tipping it outwardly and upwardly. The lower edge portion of the curtain, to which pressure can be applied to cause the described disengagement of the jaws from the stud member, is so located that pressure in the direction of the arrows ;1 cannot be exerted upon it from within the vehicle. Hence the curtain can only be unfastened by a person standing outside the vehicle.

'It will be seen from the foregoing that my invention provides a simple fastening device the members of which are adapted to be securely interlocked against the possibility of accidental separation.

In Fig. 12 I show a modification in which the faces 25 are the ends of an enlargement at the outer portion of the stud member, the portion of the stud member between said faces and the base having parallel sides, the jawdisplacingfaccs 26 being omitted. This modi' sustained mainly by the faces 26, so that the movement is not only attended with less wear of the parts, but is also easier, and therefore requires less force.

In Fig. 13 I show a stud member 220 provided with only a single jaw-engaging face 250, adapted to cooperate with a single jaw 120. This embodimentof the invention may be used for securing light curtains, which are not expected to be subjected to heavy outward pressure.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4L and 5 the jaws 12 12 are the end portions of a length of wire which comprises a central portion or neck 30 and arms 31 31 connecting said neck with the jaws 12. The said jaws, arms, and neck are in the same plane and are protected by the casing. so that they are not liable to be obstructed by mud, dirt, ice, &c. The jaws are confined between the outer and inner plates or casing members 13 and 17 in such manner that while they are free to move toward and from each other they cannot be moved in any other direction. Hence they are not liable to be distorted or bent out of operative position. The arms 31 may be formed to bear closely against the flange 15, as shown in Fig. 4, or they may be separated for the greater portion of their length from the said flange, as shown in Fig. 5, so that each arm and the accompanying jaw 12 constitute a compound spring, giving a high degree of resilience to the jaws. It will be observed that the wire member is clamped between the plates 13 and 17 only at its marginal portion, the jaws 12 being adapted to move freely.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without having attempted to set forth all the forms in which it may be embodied or all the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is 1. A fastener comprising a socket member having a yielding jaw, and a stud member having an abrupt shoulder adapted to positively engage said jaw to prevent separation of the members while the engaging faces of the shoulder and jaw are in parallel planes and the stud member also having an additional part to act upon said jaw and to disengage said shoulder and jaw when said faces are moved out of parallel planes.

2. A fastener comprising a socket member having a pair of yielding jaws, and a stud member having abrupt shoulders on opposite sides adapted to positively engage said jaws to prevent separation of the members while the engaging faces of the shoulders and the jaws are in parallel planes and the stud member also having additional parts to act upon said jaws and to disengage said shoulders and jaws when said faces are moved out of parallel planes.

3. A fastener member comprising an attaching-base and a stud projecting rigidly therefrom, said stud having a beveled or inclined tip to facilitate its entrance into a socket member, and having a recess back of said tip, the front wall of said recess being abrupt and forming a shoulder substantially parallel with the plane of the base and adapted to positively engage a jaw, said stud having an inclined side at the front edge of the recess, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

i. A fastener member comprising an attaching-base and a stud projecting rigidly therefrom, said stud having its outer portion or tip tapered to adapt it to be inserted between two jaws, the sides ofsaid member behind the tip being formed with recesses opposite each other, the front walls of said recesses forming abrupt shoulders substantially parallel with the plane of the base to positively engage such jaws, the said stud being wedgeshaped in cross-section at a point adjacent to said recesses, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED S. CARR.

Witnesses:

(J. F. BROWN, E. BATOI-IELDER. 

